The wall we may never be able to break.

[The Backlash Cometh]

Perceptions, sometimes, are thicker than the hardest granite. I have a Republican friend who I don't believe is Republican at heart, but I think the reason she considers herself Republican is twofold. First, because she has her own small business and second, because she lives in a Republican county that really doesn't have the "people" issues you find in urban areas. Out of sight, out of mind. When we talk about what's wrong with this state, we agree on the same thing: Good ole boys and corruption. You'd think it would be easy to find allies if you can agree on the problem, but it's not. There's a wall that keeps getting in the way.

Here's a good illustration of the problem: She referred someone to do some work in my house and the guy did a fabulous job. He's new in town and so I took pictures of the piece so he could start his portfolio. I thought that would be the end of it, but it is escalating. Now the guy may land a major account, but he needs to bring his customer in to actually see the work. The customer, "X," is tied by marriage to a big development firm which most people would consider prime good ole boy. Because I've been threatened in the past by lawyers tied with development, I really don't want this person in my house, so I told my guy no and I told his wife no. But then, I get a call from my "friend," and she wouldn't take no for an answer. It wasn't that she was demanding, it was that she really didn't see the problem. "X," she assured me, was the most charitable person she knew, even cooking in soup kitchens.

And that's when I saw it. The big ugly granite wall that we may never be able to get through. Here was a woman who agrees with me in the abstract about the problem: Good ole boys and corruption. But the same people who make an income from corporations that routinely steal from the public, interact in the community in ways that disguise all the shenanigans. They donate to the church, they volunteer to do charity work, their children play in the same sports leagues, etc. etc.

And that's why it's impossible to find allies on a local level, to fix local corruption. Everybody knows someone from the family or organization that is causing the problem, and "oh, Noooooo, they can't possibly be evil people."

How does a community activist get through this wall? I can't even keep the sons of bitches out of my house without offending the few friends I've got!